Bonaparte's insatiable thirst of dominion prompted him in 1812 to invade Russia at the head of 500,000 troops ; but the severity of a Russian winter, and the defensive power of the Russians, gave the first check to his conquering spirit. 100,000 men of the French army were made prisoners, and 200,000 perished by cold, famine, and the sword, in this campaign. The different independent governments of Europe took advantage of these disasters in order to restore independence and political liberty to the subjugated countries. The monarchs of Great Britain, Russia, Prussia, Austria, and Sweden, formed a confederacy to dethrone Bonaparte, and to restore to the several usurped thrones, members of families which had formerly held the sovereignty of the different states. This alliance is often called the Holy Alliance--as a compact of defenders of the rights of kings, and, as the allied powers professed, of protectors of religion and morals. The armies of these sovereigns-the combined forces which acted under the command of generals from each of the allied states, was called the Allied Army. The allied army entered Paris and took possession of it on the 18th March, 1814. Bonaparte consequently fled, and retired to the island of Elba in the Mediterranean; but he quitted his retreat on the 1st March, 1815, and at the head of the French army which flocked to his standard he re-entered Paris amidst acclamations of Vive l'Empereur. The allied army was prepared to defend the rights of the Bourbons.-During the absence of Bonaparte, Louis XVIII, brother to Louis XVI, (a King of France beheaded in 1793,) was placed on the throne of France, and to restore him to his late assumed dignity was an immediate purpose of the allied powers. Bonaparte encountered the allied army near Brussels in Belgium. On the 15th of June he defeated the Prussians; on the 16th he obtained some advantages over the British; but on the 18th his army was completely defeated in the BATTLE OF WATERLOO. The French army under Bonaparte consisted of 75,000 Frenchmen. The troops under Lord Wellington, 35,000 English and Scots, and the rest, of German contingents, formed, in point of numbers, a early equal force. "The loss on the British side during this dreadful battle," to borrow the words of Sir Walter Scott, was, "immense.-One hundred officers slain, five hundred wounded, many of them to death, fifteen thousand men killed and wounded, threw half Britain into mourning." It is supposed that about 35,000 French perished at Waterloo, or in consequence of the battle. It was said that the English officers, when news came to them of the advance of Bonaparte, were at a ball at Brussels. Lord Byron has commemorated this circumstance in Childe Harolde. THE BALL OF BRUSSELS. There was a sound of revelry by night, Soft eyes look'd love to eyes which spake again, And all went merry as a marriage-bell ; But hush! hark! a deep sound strikes likes a rising knell; Did ye not hear it?-No; 'twas but the wind, On with the dance! let joy be unconfined; No sleep till morn, when Youth and Pleasure meet And nearer, clearer, deadlier than before! Arm! Arm! it is-it is--the cannon's opening roar ! And when they smil'd because he deem'd it near, Since upon nights so sweet such awful morn could rise? And wild and high the "Cameron's gathering" rose! And Evan's, Donald's fame rings in each elansman's ears! And Ardennes waves above them her green leaves, Grieving, if aught inanimate e'er grieves, Over the unreturning brave,-alas! Ere evening to be trodden like the grass Which now beneath them, but above shall grow Of living valour, rolling on the foe And burning with high hope, shall moulder cold and low. Last noon beheld them full of lusty life, Last eve in Beauty's circle proudly gay, The midnight brought the signal-sound of strife, The thunder-clouds close o'er it, which when rent Brunswick's fated chieftain. The Duke of Brunswick, a German Prince, killed in the action. The "Cameron's gathering" rose. This alludes to the music of the Scottish troops. They distinguish themselves always as soldiers, for they bring the most noble principles of duty and patriotism into the service. An interesting moral view of the Highland soldiery is afforded by Mrs. Grant, in her Essay on the Superstitions of the Highlanders. Evan's and Donald's fame. Sir Evan Cameron and his descendant Donald, chiefs of the Camerons, beloved and cherished in the memory of their clansmen. "The wood of Soignies, near the field of Waterloo, is supposed to be a remnant of the forest of Ardennes,' famous in Boiardo's Orlando, and immortal in Shakspeare's As you like it.' It is also celebrated in Tacitus as being the spot of successful defence by the Germans against the Roman encroachments." WORDSWORTH. Of living poets there is not one whose moral feelings, as they are exhibited in his poetry, more entitle him to the respect of mankind than Mr. Wordsworth. This gentleman resides in the North of England. He loves the rural life, and exhibits it delightfully in his poetry; and the benevolence of his heart is as remarkably connected with his poetic talent, as the purest spirit of devotion, and the finest enjoyment of external nature. The Bee, the Solitary Reaper, and the Deserted Indian Woman, are the only extracts from Wordsworth's poetry which there is room to insert in this volume. THE BEE. the soft murmur of the vagrant Bee. Doth to the soul exalt it with the chime Of ages coming, ages gone; With that faint utterance, which tells That spreads no waste ;-a social builder; one With all fine functions that afford delight, Safe through the winter storm in quiet dwells! |